Research

For a week, 39 students in a health communication topics course will attempt to live on $29 – the average food stamp benefit for a person in North Carolina.
The assignment, under the direction of Jillian Tullis, assistant professor of communication studies, is one aspect of the course “Health Communication Film and Technology.” Students were introduced to the topic through the documentary “Food Inc.,” a film that examines corporate farming in the United States.

Faculty and EPA staff may be familiar with the cumbersome and sometimes confusing paper process involved with submitting their Conflict of Interest (COI) Disclosures that are required annually by University Policy 102.2 “Conflicts of Interest and Commitment.” For the fall 2014 disclosure submission cycle, this paper process will be a thing of the past.

James Walsh, associate professor and associate chair of political science and public administration, will discuss defense technology at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 5, in UNC Charlotte Center City, Room 204, as part of the 2014 Great Decisions lecture series.
Walsh’s research and teaching interests also include international human rights, national security policy and European integration. Currently, he is studying the relationships between terrorist attacks and human rights abuses and is completing a book on the politics of international intelligence sharing.

Project Mosaic, established by the University to enhance social and behavioral science research, will hold a number of free workshops for faculty and graduate students. Registration is required.
The workshops have been selected by Project Mosaic officials to meet the methodological needs of social and behavioral scientists.
Upcoming workshops include:
“Thinking about Qualitative Software:  NVivo and Its Potential” at 3 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 29, in Atkins Library, Room 273.

Parallels between social media blogs, tweets and other virtual media to that of writings in 17th-century France is the focus of the next Personally Speaking talk scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 13, in the J. Murrey Atkins Library.

For the first time in five years, 2014 is poised to be a “recovery year” for the North Carolina economy, UNC Charlotte economist John Connaughton reported today in his quarterly forecast for the state.

The website Heritage Daily compiled the top 10 archaeological discoveries for 2013, and number five was the Early Roman period mansion discovered by a team co-directed by James Tabor, chair of religious studies.

Barry Rowan recently joined the University as conflict of interest manager in the Research and Economic Development Department.
In coming to UNC Charlotte, Rowan brings solid experience in a number of areas related to research compliance from the Office of Research at the University of California Santa Barbara. Before that, he spent 10 years as laboratory manager in oceanography and cancer research facilities.

Microsoft researchers have designed a smart bra that can detect stress, according to an online BBC news article. UNC Charlotte alumna Erin Carroll (Ph.D. ’13, computing and information systems) was the lead on the project during a research internship at Microsoft in summer 2012. She also completed a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University in 2008.

Twitter and Facebook are popular social media tools for communication, and for researchers in the College of Computing and Informatics (CCI) Charlotte Visualization Center, they are providing key insights into consumer behavior.
Eight faculty members from CCI and the Belk College of Business have been looking at social media and what information can be extracted about customer behavior or potential customer behavior, according to William Ribarsky, chair of the Department of Computer Science and director of the Charlotte Visualization Center.